Carlos Sainz reveals the rival on-board footage he studies the most

Carlos Sainz said it is his versatile former team-mate Lando Norris whose on-board footage he studies “a lot”.

Major work is on the cards for every team if they are to reel the dominant Red Bull in for F1 2024, the Austrian outfit having claimed a stunning 21 grand prix wins out of 22 in the season just gone.

Ferrari’s Sainz claimed the bragging rights of being the only driver to put a dent in that record as he took victory at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Carlos Sainz studies Lando Norris on-boards ‘a lot’

With Max Verstappen having taken a sensational 19 of Red Bull’s 21 wins on his way to capturing a third World Championship, he is a driver that Sainz understandably studies for his own development, but it is actually his former McLaren team-mate Norris who he analyses in the greatest depth.

Norris remains with McLaren and enjoyed his best campaign to date with the team in F1 2023, scoring seven podium finishes in an MCL60 transformed by McLaren’s impactful upgrade programme.

“I think there are always drivers doing different things on the on-boards,” Sainz told DAZN.

“To tell you the truth, I obviously always look at Max Verstappen because he’s the one who’s usually the fastest to try to get close to what he’s doing, but I also look a lot at Lando Norris.

“I know how good he is, the different things he tends to do on each circuit.

“Also Lewis Hamilton and George Russell are two great drivers. Obviously also Charles Leclerc because he is my team-mate. And then also Fernando Alonso, but especially his race performances.”

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Sainz understandably reflected on his Singapore win as his F1 2023 highlight, explaining the difference in emotion to his first victory at Silverstone in 2022.

While that British Grand Prix triumph was the realisation of a major career milestone, Singapore was confirmation of his and Ferrari’s ability to capitalise on a rare opportunity to defeat the near-unstoppable Red Bull team.

“If I had to define this season in one word, I would say Singapore,” he said with a smile.

“The truth is that I was going very fast, even without perfect laps. I was getting my full potential out of it. And I knew that for the last lap of Q3, going as fast as I was going, I could make pole position.

“And then in the race everything went perfect and that gives you a happiness, a satisfaction with yourself, that very few things give you. And like Singapore, I’ve never felt more fulfilled, more satisfied with the performance of a weekend.

“The victory at Silverstone in 2022 is more emotional, the one where you fulfil a dream, which is to win. The Singapore win in 2023 is more like the satisfaction of having done everything perfect.

“There have been practically one or two opportunities to beat Red Bull this season. One was Singapore and the other was Las Vegas. In Singapore the opportunity presented itself and we took it. We didn’t miss. And that makes me proud of myself and proud of the team as well. Knowing that when there have been opportunities, we have taken them.”

Ferrari are looking to confirm contract extensions for both Sainz and Leclerc before the F1 2024 action gets underway, their current deals set to expire after that season.

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